Rivalry Between Roomies
by Frostforge44
Summary: When three female penguins arrive at the zoo seeking shelter, the boys (reluctantly) open their home. However, as nature's law goes, it's never a good idea to stick two stubborn alphas who are willing to do anything to take the other down in the same place and expect them to get along. Story takes place before 'Needle Point' and POSSIBLE pairings, but not yet decided.
1. Late Night Runaways

**Well, this was an idea for a story I made years ago, but even at that point that I would have to admit that the characters and the plot were pretty weak. So, I reinvented it a bit. You guys should know, that second only to the Smurfs, The Penguins of Madagascar is my all-time favorite cartoon series.**

**Anyway, I would appreciate no flames since this is my first time with this in quite a while, but I will accept comments, ideas, and constructive criticism. Nothing mean, though. Thank you.**

**I don't own Penguins of Madagascar (though it would be awesome if I did). I only own my characters: Art, Zoey, and Hope. Enjoy!**

"C'mon! I saw them go that way!" A man in an 'Animal Control' uniform waved before taking off down the street on Fifth Avenue. An entire group, all shouting and waving their nets, followed him. Even a large van zoomed down the road with the light traffic there was at two o' clock in the morning.

Nothing moved and nothing made a sound for a good five minutes. Then, at the edge of a dark alley, a black flipper appeared from behind a garbage can lid and set down on its side. A young penguin peeked out from behind, her beak hung open a bit from her light panting.

This particular penguin, from the looks of it, was not all that far into her adult life, but just enough to have gained worldly experience. She wore a black choker with a red rose as a centerpiece that she fidgeted with a bit as her aquamarine eyes scanned the area for 'Animal Control'.

"Okay," she finally whispered. "It's safe."

"Ew!" groaned another female voice. Another penguin stepped out backwards, shaking her foot from a piece of rotten garbage.

This penguin was about an inch taller than the first, and her eyes were a bright honey brown. She wore, unlike the first, had on a yellow butterfly necklace.

"What now, Art? Hope's out for the count and Animal Control's hot on our tail feathers."

"I know…" 'Art' rubbed her beak with her flipper, then her narrowed eyes widened in realization. "Zoey! Find a map! I'll try and figure out where we are now."

'Zoey' groaned and winced as she cautiously dug through the garbage. Art merely edged to the entrance of the alley. She poked her head out and looked around, and then blinked at the street sign that read 'Fifth Avenue'.

"…Found one!" Zoey cringed as she tossed a dirty Manhattan map away from the pile of garbage. She whimpered and scooted away from all the filth.

Art shook her head and flattened out the map. Her eyes scanned around the map before she grinned.

"Yes! That's the answer!"

"Yeah!" Zoey cheered, pumping her flipper in the air as she also grinned. "Why are we celebrating?"

Art scoffed and pointed down, "We're right here on Fifth Avenue," she then moved her flipper a few inches, "and right here is Central Park. Which is home to…"

Zoey's non-existent eyebrows together in obvious confusion. Art sighed and snapped, "The Central Park Zoo, Zoey! Try to keep up!"

"Okay!" she put her flippers up in defense. She then rested them on her hips as she asked, "And your point is…?"

"The _point_ is that with every zoo, there's a penguin habitat-"

"What makes you think that there's a penguin habitat there?"

Art's confident stature immediately vanished and she turned a narrow-eyed glare onto Zoey. The penguin rolled her brown eyes before waving her flippers.

"Sorry, your majesty," she half-joked. "Continue."

Art sighed, "Face it, Zoey. There's _always_ a penguin habitat in a zoo. We just need to get from here to the zoo. We'll have to convince the residents to hide us until the heat from Animal Control dies down."

Zoey nodded, now encouraged at the new plan, "Yeah…this could work. But how are we gonna get to Central Park without getting caught?"

"Excellent question," Art muttered, tapping the bottom of her beak with her right flipper.

The two jumped and pressed themselves against the brick wall. Warily, the two peeked around the corner and saw what could be considered a god-send. A bus had creaked to a stop and the doors slid open. A wrinkled old man, who seemed to tremble uncontrollably, gripped the wheel with his bony fingers and wheezed out,

"All aboard! Next stop: Central Park!"

As a few people stepped off the bus, Art and Zoey turned to each other with sly smiles.

"You grab the feet," Art started.

"And you grab the flippers," Zoey finished, the two sharing a high-five before diving back into the alley.

* * *

The bus, once again, creaked to a stop in front of the walls of Central Park. The old man slowly let the doors slide open for the people to board and exit. From the steps, Art and Zoey jumped down, each of them holding both ends of a third penguin, Hope.

Her neck accessory happened to be a light green ribbon that wrapped around her neck and was tied in a nice bow. The poor thing was out-cold, which could easily be explained from the tranquilizer sticking out of her lower back.

"Good," Art grunted as the two began to trudge along into the park. "Now we just keep up this pace and we should be there by morning…"

"Morning!?" Zoey groaned, throwing her head back in despair. "But I'm exhausted! Can't we take a break and _start_ in the morning?"

The female leader shook her head, "No-go. If we have any chance of these guys taking us into their habitat for a while, we'll need to get in there before any of the human workers do. I know it's tedious, but I promise after we get settled in, we'll have a nice, relaxing day off."

Zoey suddenly stopped, making Art stop before she could drop Hope by her flippers. She narrowed her eyes as she asked, "Day off…_and_ sleep-in privileges for the next day?"

Art groaned, rolling her eyes as she answered, "Fine. You and Hope can, but I'm keeping up on my physical training."

"Agreed," Zoey nodded, then continued to waddle with Art and Hope, hopefully, in the direction of the Central Park Zoo.

There was a few moments of silence as they went on their way. Honestly, it would be strange to anybody, human or otherwise, to see animals carrying one of their own as if he or she were dead.

"So…" Zoey started a bit awkwardly, rolling her eyes as she dragged out the word. "How long do you think it'll take for the heat to die down?"

_ZOOM! ZOOM! ZOOM!_

Art and Zoey gasped and snapped their heads of where the rushes of air past them. Three tranquilizer darts had dug themselves into a nearby tree.

"Dang it! Missed!" cried an 'Animal Control_'_ officer. He lowered his gun and talked into his walkie-talkie, "Targets have been spotted! Area 18. Central Park. I need back-up! I repeat, I need back-up!"

"Shake your tail feathers, Zoey!" Art shouted, lifting Hope over their heads before sprinting off. "Go! Go! GO!"

Zoey shouted as she just nearly got a shot of tranquilizer in her backside, but had jumped up to dodge it. They ran through bushes, over and under any obstacle possible, and many more to throw off the officer.

Art suddenly gasped, a gigantic smile creasing her beak, "The zoo! Zoey, we made it!"

"Awesome," Zoey wheezed, her feet still working at overtime to keep up with her leader. "But…can we celebrate _after _we lose the Animal Control?"

With a nod, Art panted, "Agreed."

Coming to the gates of the zoo, Art and Zoey shoved Hope through the bars before sliding in themselves. They panted as they got up and turned to the gates. The Animal Control officer grunted as he pulled at the bars of the gates, but to no avail.

"Ha! That's what ya get when ya mess with penguins!" Art and Zoey smiled as they shared high-fives again. They picked up Hope and waddled forth into the zoo.

"Guys? Marks here," the officer said into his talkie. "I've got the three cornered. They're in the Central Park zoo."

Meanwhile…

"Okay…we're right here," Art muttered, pointing to the red arrow that said 'You are here!' "And it looks like the penguin habitat is right there. Right in the middle of the zoo."

"Great," Zoey sighed, rolling her shoulders a bit. "Let's get moving so we can get to sleep already!"

The two conscious females waddled to the center of the zoo, where they found the concrete island surrounded by water. 'Penguins' was what Art read on the sign.

"Okay, we don't want to cause too much noise and scare them…wherever they are," Art raised a non-existent eyebrow as she looked around.

"Yeah, where _are _they?" Zoey looked around, hoping to find something black and white and feathery, but none could be found.

Art shook her head, "Whatever. Let's do this. Sorry about this, Hope. On three?"

"On three," Zoey nodded. She and Art began swinging Hope back and forth.

"One!" Art shouted.

"Two!" Zoey responded, and finally…

"THREE!"

The two grunted as they tossed their comrade over the fence and winced as Hope slapped face-down onto the stone island.

Inside the HQ…

"Hmm…?" Skipper lifted his head abruptly, blinking wearily at a very sudden, yet very subtle thud. His tired eyes roamed around the HQ, but could find no disturbance. So, he laid his head back down and tried to sleep again.

Outside, on the surface…

"Well. I'd say we're one step closer to safety, Zoey," Art commented after she landed on the island. "I think I'm gonna take a dive. Maybe there's an underground cave or something where they sleep."

"Take your time," Zoey yawned, slowly sitting, and then lying down as the leader dove down into the water.

She jetted through the water, circling the island at least three times as she looked for an underground cave of some sort, but found none. Finally, on her fifth lap, she noticed one of the portholes. She swooped down and pressed her face against the glass, squinting her aquamarine eyes as she peered inside.

Art smiled and shot right up to the surface, doing a front flip as she landed. Zoey snorted a bit before sitting up in startle. The leader snickered as Zoey glared at her.

"Haha, very funny. Any luck?"

"Well, at least I was right when I said they were underground…" she muttered, walking and at the same time looking for a possible entrance. She brightened as she spotted a fish bowl. "But maybe it's a _secret _entrance. Cool."

She waltzed right up to the fish bowl and, right as she was about to open, Zoey grabbed her flippers, "Hold on! I think by now you'd know what Hope would say if she were…you know, _with_ us."

Art groaned, then said in a high-pitched voice, "_It's rude to enter a strange penguin habitat without knocking first_. Bah, fine."

She took a deep breath and clenched her flipper, giving three solid knocks at the tin feeding bowl. Meanwhile, down below, the knocks carried out as a loud echo into the underground headquarters.

Skipper's eyes snapped open, now certain that there was something quite off. He leapt from his bunk and held up a defensive pose as the rest of his team slowly awoke as well.

"What was that, Skippah?" Private yawned as he jumped down from his bunk.

The four males looked up when they heard seven more knocks, all of them adding up to a sort of a musical knock.

"Intruders!" Skipper narrowed his eyes, scrambling up the ladder to investigate.

"Not necessarily, Skipper," Kowalski started up the ladder after him. "After all, that was the universal friendly knock."

Art tapped her foot impatiently, her flippers crossed as Zoey sighed, "You really need to relax, Art."

"I'll relax when we're safe away from Animal Control!" Art shouted, then let her flippers fall to her side as the fish bowl slid open, but nothing came out.

_What the…?_ She arched a non-existent eyebrow as she approached the hole. She screamed as a black and white blur lashed out at her and threw them both into the water.

"ART!" Zoey grabbed the sides of her beak as she rushed to the edge of the water. A clearing of the throat made her stop and look over her shoulder. Kowalski, Rico, and Private's heads were sticking out of the hole and looking at her.

"Uh…hi," she smiled, waving awkwardly at them. "Um…So sorry to be barging in on you guys so late in the P.M. and all, but we really needed help."

"Oookay," Kowalski said slowly, looking between Rico and Private. They jumped out onto the island as he continued, "What is it that you need exactly?"

"Well, to make a long story short," Zoey started before gesturing at Hope, "the three of us are on the run from Animal Control and this was the only place we can turn to!"

"Oh dear!" Private gasped, covering his beak with his flippers as he got a look at Hope. "Is she okay?"

"Hmm," Kowalski hummed as he bent down to observe Hope. He opened her eyelids, revealing forest green irises, and then he spotted the dart. "Aha! If this story checks out, this tranquilizer dart obviously came from a rifle wielded by an Animal Control officer.

He pulled off the dart, making Hope wince slightly in her sleep, "By the way, you said that there were _three_ of you, correct?"

Skipper and Art suddenly leapt out of the water, rolling onto the island before Skipper kicked the female off of him and over to the other edge. Art sat up with narrowed eyes and growled, right before shouting and charging at a still-recovering Skipper.

"NO!" Zoey blocked her leader, pushing her back with a surprisingly powerful force. "No, no, no! Artsy, we need them to _like_ us!"

"I'm gonna kill him," Art muttered furiously under her breath, still struggling to attack the commando penguin. "Did you see what that psycho did to me, Zoey?!"

Zoey nodded, giving an apologetic smile at the boys, especially as Private started to shrink behind Rico, "I saw, Art, but that's really no way to be treating these guys right now. Besides, you're the leader here! Act like it!"

"He started it!"

"And now I'm ending it," Skipper interrupted, standing back on his two webbed feet. "State your business!"

Private, stepping slightly from behind Rico, whispered, "Skippah, Zoey already did."

"On the run from Animal Control and seeking a hiding place, apparently," Kowalski explained. Then he pointed down at Hope, "They already got one of their own with a tranquilizer dart."

Skipper looked from the dart in Kowalski's flipper, Hope, and then to the remaining females. He narrowed his eyes and rubbed his beak with his flipper. Suddenly there was a clanging of metal followed by a loud creaking sound. Zoey and Art gasped as they turned towards the entrance of the zoo, where Animal Control officers were pouring in.

"Friends of yours?" Skipper sarcastically asked, turning to the one named 'Art.'

She turned back to him with a glare, "Look, I'd be willing to take a lie detector test if we had the technology or the time, but right now, we don't!"

He smirked, looking over his shoulder slightly, "Kowalski?"

"I'm on it," the intelligent penguin nodded, jumping down into the hole.

"Well, shall we take this somewhere more private?" Skipper asked the two females. The two blinked, obviously surprised as they looked at each other, then back at him.

Art straightened up, all hostility seeming to have vanished as she said, "Uh…yeah, sure."

Private and Rico grabbed onto Hope and pulled her down. Art and Zoey followed them, and Skipper kicked the bowl up before flipping down into the hole, the feeding bowl landing perfectly on top of it.

"Hey! Where'd they go?" Officer Marks cried out after they searched the entire zoo. "I swear they went right in here!"

One of the other officers sighed, setting a hand on his shoulder as he said, "Marks, I think you need some time off."

* * *

Rico flicked on the switch of a flashlight and pointed at the three girls, who were siting against the wall. Skipper stood between him and Private as they observed their new guests. Aquamarine eyes narrowed as they met hard sapphire ones, which narrowed as well.

"So…" Zoey said slowly, trying to break the awkward silence. "Nice place you guys've got here. Build it yourselves?"

"Oh, yes!" Private nodded enthusiastically, only to get a slap on the back of the head from Skipper. "Right, sorry sir."

Kowalski suddenly slid into the main room, "Skipper, the 'Truth-Seeker 5000' is all set."

Art suddenly turned to him with a confused glance, "You mean…a lie detector? Why not just call it that?"

He sighed heavily, almost as if he had been asked that question many times, "That's already been done, thank you very much."

"Right," Skipper pointed at Art. "You're up, dollface."

Art's eyes widened dangerously, "Never ever call me that again. If you wanna call me anything, call me Art."

"Fine, Miss _Art_. After you," Skipper carelessly gestured to the door to Kowalski's lab. Art got up and followed Kowalski inside, "Rico, you're with me on persuasion duty."

Rico cheered, hacking up a hammer before rushing into the lab. Zoey's eyes widened and her beak fell open in shock, but before she could ask anything at all-

"And me, Skippah?" Private asked.

Skipper sternly pointed to Zoey, "Stay here and make sure these two don't go anywhere."

Zoey crossed her flippers, her back pressed against the wall as she muttered, "Yeah. Animal control up top, you four down here and no other means of escape. We're really going to be all over the place."

The door had slammed shut as she finished. There was a bit of a silence before she asked uncomfortably, "Please tell me that guy's hacking things up isn't a habit."

Meanwhile…

"Helmet, check," Kowalski muttered, setting a wired helmet on Art's head. He then went to a large machine and flipped a few switches, turned a few knobs, and pressed a large button. "The 'Truth-Seeker 5000' is all ready for action."

"So, Miss _Art_," Skipper began coldly. "Is the story you gave topside legitimate?"

Art sighed, "In the event you didn't notice the Animal Control officers up there, then yes. The story that Zoey told is true."

A green light flickered, followed by a loud ding. Kowalski nodded, "True."

"And are you or your lady friends working for any secret spy organization?" Skipper asked, his tone now more suspicious than ever.

Art furrowed her brows together, "What? No!"

Another green light with a ding.

"All right, then," Skipper rubbed his head. "Just how long do you three plan on staying here?"

Art simply shrugged, "I don't know. Until the heat from Animal Control dies down, I guess."

There was another green light, and another loud ding.

Skipper narrowed his eyes, "Are you three clean? If there's anything I can't stand in my own HQ, its dirty houseguests."

Art giggled a bit, something that was a bit out of character in Skipper's perspective, "Don't worry. Zoey's germ phobic; nothing dirty lasts long while she's around."

Everyone looked to the 'Truth-Seeker 5000', which took a bit longer than usual. Then, there was a green light and a ding.

"Are you done with you questions, now?" Art asked. "We've been running all day and my girls and I would really like to rest."

At the next ding, she grunted as she threw the helmet off of her. She crossed her flippers as she looked questioningly at Skipper.

"Gentlemen, let's get these ladies to the loading area," Skipper ordered. "Alice will be suspicious if there're three more penguins in our habitat in the morning."

* * *

Art's eyes were wide as she looked over the crate that towered over the seven penguins. Rico and Kowalski tossed Hope in from the top before jumping down.

"Well, it's a surprise delivery label, but it's still a legitimate delivery for three female penguins straight from the Philadelphia Zoo."

"Excellente, Kowalski," Skipper praised. "Well, there's your box, ladies. Make yourselves comfy."

"Great," Zoey smiled as she walked forward. She stopped and looked over her shoulder, sighed heavily and walked back, "You know you're gonna have to get in the crate, right Art?"

Art made no sound, nor any movement at all. Zoey groaned and pulled at her flipper, only it seemed like her feet were cemented to the floor.

"Could I get a hand over here?" she squeaked out after trying to push her from behind.

"Come on, Miss Art," Skipper started, pulling on one of her flippers. "Do we have to do this the easy way, or the hard-"

"AAAHH!" Art suddenly shrieked, slapping him hard across the face. Out of complete surprise, he fell onto his back as she tried to make a break for it.

"Stop her!"

Private and Rico jumped onto Art before she could get away, pinning her to the ground. She struggled and kicked, even managing to get Rico in the stomach, which made him cough up a crowbar. He stumbled backwards and grabbed his stomach, making Kowalski take his place.

"You'll never take me alive!" Art cried out, struggling to get out of the grip of her captors.

Zoey scoffed and shook her head. She grabbed Rico and whispered into his ear hole. He listened with great interest, then a maniacal grin creased on his beak. He nodded eagerly before rushing off, scooping up the crowbar as he went right at Art.

"Please, Art. This is for your own good!" Private grunted, now starting to become overpowered by her struggling.

"Don't worry, Art. It's only a box. Nothing can hurt you-" Rico cried out, jumping up in the air with the crowbar raised.

"RICO! NO!"

_CLANG!_

Art groaned painfully before letting her head fall forward as she lost consciousness. All of the male penguins (the sane ones, anyway) looked down in shock.

"Soldier, that was just uncalled for!" Skipper angrily barked.

"No…no it wasn't. I…kinda told him to do it."

They turned to Zoey, who was sheepishly fidgeting her feet, "I'm sorry, I should've said something. Art's got a bad case of claustrophobia. Don't really know where she got it from, though."

"Doesn't matter," Skipper panted, rubbing the spot where he was hit. "Load her in."

Art was lowered in by Rico and Kowalski, and then Zoey jumped up onto the box. She took in a deep breath before saying.

"Look, I know my leader's a bit rough around the edges, but just let her rest a bit and I swear she'll be much better. And I know she really appreciates what you're doing for us. So, thanks."

Zoey jumped into the crate, and then the box was sealed shut. Rico slapped the sticker on the crate and the boys began pushing it to the delivery area.

"Skippah? Do you think Zoey meant that?" Private whispered. "I mean, about Art being grateful to us."

"Can't say for sure," Skipper grunted. "But I'd like to hear those words right from her own beak in the morning."


	2. This Means War

**Yay! Chapter two! Speaking of two, I'm glad to have two first reviewers (whom I hope will be future reviewers). Before I do any sort of disclaimer, I like to make voice actors for my OCs, so I think I'll list it up now. Just to give you guys a good idea of what they sound like:**

**Art will be voiced by Hayden Panettiere (Kate from **_**Alpha and Omega**_**)**

**Zoey will be voiced by Britt Irvin (Ursula from **_**George of the Jungle**_**)**

**Hope will be voiced by Christina Ricci (Lilly from _Alpha and Omega_)**

**Warning: Voice actors/actresses are likely to change. It may or may not happen, but if I find a voice that seems to fit my characters better, it may be safe to check back every so often. But believe me, this won't be a regular thing.**

**Well, with no more OCs (for right now, of course) all that's left is to comment on some reviews. I hope you guys don't mind. You don't have to read them if you don't want to, but I like to give my personal appreciation for each review I get.**

**Layla- First of all, can I call you Layla? I assumed that might be a reason you left that in the review, but if you don't want me to, I won't do it from now on. Second of all, of course! How could this be a story without all the other characters? And, above all, thanks for the kind words. I appreciate them.**

**Thewriterstory- I'll take that as an update soon! Which I will!**

**I don't own the Penguins of Madagascar (but if I did, I SO would keep it going and not have cancelled it! Seriously, who would do that?!). Dreamworks owns them. I only own my OCs. Enjoy!**

"Hey, guys! What'cha up to?" Marlene greeted as she jumped into the penguin habitat. The boys were lined up perfectly, awaiting something.

Marlene blinked at their unresponsiveness. She waved a paw in front of Rico's face, but still got nothing.

"Uh…guys? What's going on…?"

"Shh!" Skipper slapped a flipper over her mouth. He slowly let it fall to his side as he said, "We're waiting for our surprise guests."

Marlene arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms, "Hold on. If they're 'surprise' guests, how do you know that they're coming? And who exactly are _they_, anyway?"

"Well, they're not so much as a surprise now as they were last night when they came to us," Kowalski explained to her. "But, let's just say that as of today, we'll be acquiring three more residents of the female sort."

"Wait, wait. So," Realization showed on Marlene's face before it quickly turned to excitement, "There'll be more girls! I don't believe it! This is so great-"

"HAHA!" Rico garbled, waving his flipper over their heads. Skipper snapped and pulled out the binoculars, spotting the vet carrying a cage with the three females in question.

"Lady penguins zeroing in! Act casual, boys!" Skipper, along with the other penguins, stiffened into position.

Then, without a second thought, Skipper pushed Marlene into the water, making her cry out in surprise before there was a big splash! He threw the binoculars up, where they landed in Rico's open beak just as the vet arrived.

"Ah, here you ladies are: your new home," the vet said, setting the board down and opening the cage door.

Zoey exited first, then Hope, and Art was last. She stopped for a moment, narrowing her aquamarine eyes at Skipper, who had done the same right at her.

"Oh come on now," the vet chuckled, tapping her slightly on the backside to usher her along. "Don't be shy-"

Art whipped around, narrowly missing the vet's hand as she snapped at his fingers. Private yelped and jumped behind Rico, peeking out slightly a few seconds later. She squawked irritably at him before turning her back on him and slowly walking down the plank.

"Ah, yes. I forgot," the vet laughed, still holding his hand away. "You're quite a feisty one. Just try not to hurt your new friends."

She stopped for a moment, her eyes trained on Skipper, before walking down again, "No promises, doc."

"There we go. Enjoy your stay here!" He whistled merrily as he took the plank away and left the females to adjust to their new home. Zoey crossed her flippers and greeted,

"Hey, guys."

"Hi," Hope waved with a large grin. "I'm Hope. I guess you've already met Art and Zoey."

"Skipper!" Marlene shouted as she jumped out of the water, shaking herself off before glowering at the head penguin. The girls turned and looked at her as she seethed, "I'm going to strangle you for that!"

"That makes two of us," Art commented, crossing her flippers. "Wanna team up?"

"Oooh," Rico crooned, putting a flipper to his beak.

"Oh! Oh, hey!" Marlene suddenly relaxed, now putting on a friendly face. She'd completely forgotten that the penguins now had more company. "Hi! I'm Marlene. The otter, obviously."

Hope smiled and waved, "Hello, Marlene! I'm Hope!"

"Zoey," the tallest female penguin replied. "And our currently vengeance-seeking leader is Art. Speaking of which…"

Zoey turned Art around slightly and pushed her towards Skipper, who arched an eyebrow. Art looked over her shoulder stubbornly, but only received a glare from Zoey and an encouraging nod from Hope.

Sighing dejectedly, she turned back to a cross-flippered Skipper, who was tapping his foot impatiently, "I…apologize for my behavior last night. It wasn't fair to my girls or to you and your boys considering the time of night to treat you that way."

After a moment of silence, Zoey cleared her throat loudly. Art sucked in a deep breath and continued, "And…I also want to thank you and your boys for allowing us to stay here until Animal Control is off our tail feathers."

Everyone smiled at those words, especially the boys at the female penguin's words. The words were a bit forced, but it was a nice gesture all the same.

Skipper actually smirked, "That's all I needed to hear. Now that that's out of the way, how about you tell me just what you did to get the animal authorities on your tail feathers in the first place?"

The smiles from Zoey and Hope's faces instantly vanished, being replaced with looks of astonishment and slight fear. Art's eyes narrowed slightly as she replied, "Nothing you need to worry your big, flat head about there, chief."

"Oooh," Rico snickered a bit, stopping and turning neutral again as he received a glare from his leader.

"Chief?" Private looked to Kowalski, who shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

"Yeah, chief," Art replied, allowing a miniscule smile to cross her beak in slight smugness. "What? I thought _you_ were the head honcho around here. You know, the zoo _master_ behind the zoo _keeper_. I'm not wrong, am I?"

Skipper chuckled, puffing his chest out a bit in pride, "Well…guilty as charged. I'll admit it, you've got good eyes…for a dame, at least."

Art's eye and beak suddenly twitched, and then the demon came out, "Why you arrogant, no-good-"

"ART! NO!" Zoey and Hope cried out, jumping forward and pinning their leader down before she could pounce at Skipper.

"So close!" Zoey exclaimed after wrapping her flippers around Art's beak so that the possibly violent and dirty words couldn't be heard. "We were so close!"

"Erm…" Kowalski started uncomfortably, he and the rest of the boys scooting back a bit. "Your leader seems to have a bit of a…short fuse, doesn't she?"

Hope smiled bashfully, "Only around strangers. I swear she'll warm up to you."

Art thrashed and writhed, her eyes widening as she seemed to try and let out an insult. Zoey winced as she finished, "You know…eventually. I think she just needs some time to cool off."

"Good idea!" Marlene said, now helping the girls to take Art away. "How about I show you guys my place and then we can…I don't know, tour around the zoo?"

"That sounds great!" Hope said excitedly. She then waved to the boys, "We'll see you boys later! Bye!"

The boys blinked after there was a moment of peaceful, yet awkward silence. Private looked to his leader before asking, "Skippah, I don't understand. Was it something you said?"

"I can honestly say I have no idea," Skipper replied. "Kowalski, analysis."

"Hmm," Kowalski brought out his notepad and pencil, scribbling down before setting it off to the side. He brought out his abacus and did some calculations, "If my calculations are correct, which they usually are, Miss Art was offended by your comment, Skipper."

"What? It was a compliment!" Skipper innocently shrugged his shoulders. "She does have good eyes, _especially_ for a dame! She's gotta have'em if you can spot the obvious alpha in this zoo."

The boys face-flippered at their leader's obliviousness of his own sexist comment. Then again, what else was new?

Private gulped a bit before shakily stating, "B-but Skippah, Art seems like an alpha, too. Don't you think you should make friends with her before things get any worse?"

"I concur with Private, sir," Kowalski replied with a curt nod. "We have no idea what she may be capable of or what she'll be willing to do. Making peace with her seems like the best choice given that she doesn't seem afraid of any of us."

"Uh-huh!" Rico nodded his head rapidly in agreement.

Skipper rolled his eyes, "I will not be 'making friends' with that female. Case closed. Besides, if she's looking for vengeance, there's nothing she can't dish out that we can't handle."

His teammates looked to each other unsurely. They'd heard that one before, but hopefully this time it wouldn't come back to bite them on the tail feathers.

* * *

_That penguin is _so _dead when we get back there_, Art seethed to herself as she was dragged into Marlene's cave. She had calmed down considerably since they left the penguin habitat, but Hope and Zoey weren't taking their chances.

"And right here is my home!" Marlene said, using her arms to show them the interior. "Um…oh yeah, just curious, but what do you mean by Art being your 'leader', anyway? No offense or anything, just…you know, curious…"

Zoey, still having her flippers tightly wrapped around Art's beak, began to explain, "Well, you see back where we come from, we're separated into groups and each group is assigned a group leader."

"We kinda got separated from our group and one thing lead to another and…well, we're here now," Hope ended with a nervous giggle.

"Oh," Marlene blinked. "I'm sorry to hear that…"

"Not to worry, it's all behind us now," Zoey hastily replied. She bent down to Art's eye level and asked, "Are you done yet? Can we let you go?"

Art hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Zoey and Hope instantly let her go, where she then got back up to her feet and dusted off her feathers. She crossed her flippers and said bluntly, "You all saw that. He started it."

"What, that? Oh, come on!" Marlene laughed, waving her paw nonchalantly. "That's just Skipper being…Skipper…"

"Well, I don't like what I saw back there," Art sassily retorted. "Someone's really gotta put that so-called 'alpha male' in his place-"

"Oh, no you don't!" Zoey scowled deeply, slapping her flippers down on her leader's shoulders. Art's face turned from irritated to neutral as she continued, "You promised that when we got here, we would have a relaxing day off! And we _will_ have a relaxing day off even if it kills me! Do you understand the words coming out of my beak?!"

Aquamarine eyes blinked, then she sighed, "Fine. No fighting or vengeance of any sort…for today."

Hope shrugged calmly, "Eh. It's a start. Sooo…how about that tour, Marlene? I'd really like to meet some our new neighbors."

"Uh, yeah! Sure! C'mon!" Marlene waved her paw as she lead them out of the cave. She took them all over the zoo, showing them all the animals to see (excluding Joey, who never really seemed to not like any visitors), all except for one habitat…

"And right here…are the lemurs," Marlene half-heartedly finished, jumping into the habitat with the female penguins following. "Hey, guys. We've got some new girls in the zoo."

"Oooh! I like new girls!" Mort cried out, clinging onto Julien's foot as he shook it violently.

"Mort!" Julien exclaimed. "Off of de royal feet!"

The little lemur cried out as he flew off on the last kick and straight through the air. Zoey yelped as Mort flew right at her face and knocked her onto her back.

Lowering her non-existent eyebrows, Art sighed and grabbed the little lemur by the scruff of his neck before setting him on the ground gently.

"Oookay," Zoey shook her head as she sat back up. "That was weird."

"Uh, wait a moment," Julien jumped from his stool in front of the female penguins. He scratched his head before asking, "Maurice, when did the penguins get slimmer and curvier and…I don't know, not so toughy-looking?"

The aye-aye shrugged his shoulders, "Beats me."

"Hey!" Hope cried out indignantly, then she smiled shyly, "Thank you about us being slim and curvy, but that doesn't make us any less tough!"

"Oh, and their voices are so much higher, too!" Julien gasped excitedly. He dove behind the bar and came scurrying back with a fancy glass cup. He held it up and demanded,

"Go ahead! Go ahead and break this glass!"

Shrugging, Art grabbed onto the cup and tossed it over the fence of the habitat. At the sound of glass shattering, she crossed her flippers and said, "Wish granted. Can we go now?"

"Hey!" Julien cried out angrily, his tail twitching as he complained, "That was my very expensive glass and was only to be broken by your now very high voices! Be gone from my sight!"

Julien turned around with a huff, crossing his arms as if he expected the penguins to feel terrible about what they did. Art rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, "Good. Let's go, girls."

After giving each other strange looks, they left the lemur habitat. As they left their earshot, Marlene said, "Don't worry about Julien. He's just being…well…"

"Julien?" Hope guessed.

"Right!" Marlene nodded. "But believe me, if you don't like them now, wait until after closing. They literally turn up the volume and keeps over half the zoo up all night. You wouldn't believe how many times Skipper's had to go in there and tell them to keep it down. And even then they don't stop."

Art's eyes brightened up, throwing a curious glance over her shoulder back at the lemur habitat. A devious smile crossed her beak before continuing on with the group.

"Good to know."

Zoey and Hope looked to each other worriedly, fearing that this was only the start of worse things to come. The four females looked up towards the entrance as the bell went off.

"Oh! Looks like its opening time! You guys better get back to your habitat!"

"Okay! Thanks for the tour, Marlene!" Hope and the two penguins waved as the otter rushed off back into her own home.

"You girls get back to the habitat," Art ordered gently. "I've got a mess to clean up."

The lead female walked over and scooped up the pieces of broken glass. She jumped up onto the edge of a garbage can and let the glass fall in with dull thuds. She dusted her flippers and set them on her hips in obvious pride.

"No kids are getting cut in this zoo. Not on my watch."

Unknown to her, the periscope was up and pointed right at her. On the other end, Kowalski had his eyes locked on her and her actions.

"Well, it appears that Art has cleaned up the glass that she had broken in the first place. Nothing evil about that."

"Actually, it's rather considerate of her," Private said with a pleasant smile on his face.

"Oh come on!" Skipper threw a flipper up in the air. He took a sip of his fish coffee before continuing, "Can you really not see an innocence act when it smacks you right in the face?"

Rico, who was brushing the hair of his Miss Perky doll, stopped and turned to his leader, obviously surprised. Kowalski and Private also looked at him strangely.

"But, wasn't it you who said that she wouldn't bring us any harm that we couldn't handle?" Kowalski asked with an arched brow.

"Yes, I was," Skipper rolled his eyes, almost seeming that he was being sarcastic, "but what about that devious look on her face when she left the lemur habitat, hmm?"

The intelligent penguin tapped his beak in thought, "There was a rather large smile on her face…"

"Exactly!" they all jumped at Skipper's outburst. "That was the smile of a devious, cynical mastermind with the unstable gears in her mind turning. She's up to something."

"Well, just to be sure…" Kowalski went to peer back into the periscope.

He was met with a pair of large brown eyes peering through the other end. He let out a girlish squeal as he stumbled back, falling off of the edge and landing hard on the concrete floor.

They looked up as the hatch was opened and Zoey poked her head through, "Hey, just wanted to say that people are starting to come in. Oh, and if you guys wouldn't mind not peeping at us without our permission from now on, that'd be dandy."

Skipper 'humph'ed as Zoey left them, "Topside, boys. We've got a crowd to impress."

* * *

"Let's make it extra cute and cuddly today, boys," Skipper ordered as he jumped up from sliding on his belly for the crowd, although they didn't need to be told twice. It was, after all, feeding day!

However, the girls stood off to the side and watched the boys perform the cheering visitors. Private stopped his dancing and whispered to the girls, "Um…aren't you going to do anything? We get fish, you know."

Art shrugged, "Okay. We'll perform, but you might want to watch out for us. We wouldn't want you boys getting hurt."

Skipper chuckled, "Do what you want. Just try to keep up with us."

The lead female kept her face neutral, but her tone held concealed irritation, "As you wish. Girls, into the water!"

The three went to different edges of the fake glacier before diving in beak-first. Art shook her head, letting the water slide off as she came up before calling out, "Start with the 'Water Park Whirlpool', then the 'Tipsy Flipsy'. Zoey, you'll be on the receiving end and Hope, this is your show today!"

"Yes!" Hope cried, throwing her flippers in the air in triumph. "What about a finale?"

"Hmm," Zoey tapped her beak in thought, then suggested, "The 'Aerial Torpedo'?"

Art nodded, obviously impressed, "Let's show these boys what a real performance looks like!"

All the girls took a deep breath before diving back under the water. Skipper chuckled, believing that the whole thing would be something like an underwater ballet recital. His gut told him that there was no way the females would take the crowd from them.

Boy should he have not listened to it this time…

"What the duce…?" Skipper shook his head, his eyes growing wide and his team stopping their routines as the girls started leaping out of the water and around the glacier.

They were in near-perfect sync, jumping out of the water and spinning while spitting out the water, making water spirals. This definitely got some 'ooh's and 'ah's from the audience.

Suddenly, Hope and Zoey jumped out of the water and onto the railings of the fence, earning excited gasps from the children. Zoey back-flipped onto the fake glacier first, holding her flippers up just as Hope did the same and landed right on her shoulders. The bottom penguin teetered side to side, which really earned some concerned glances, both from the crowd and the male penguins.

"Whee!" Hope cried as Zoey started to fall backwards, the crowd now gasping in terror.

"Hmph. Not an impressive trick," Kowalski lightly scoffed. Rico snickered a bit, but Private only did the polite thing and remained quiet during the performance.

Their eyes widened when Hope planted her flippers on the ground and hoisted Zoey up. She stood there in a perfectly still flipper stand while Zoey pushed up on the bottom of Hope's feet. The two flipped back onto their feet and took a quick bow. The people cheered and clapped loudly for the performance.

"Thank you! And now for our finale!" Hope called out in a tone of anticipation.

"The 'Aerial Torpedo'!" Zoey cried out and, as if it were a cue, Art leapt out of the water before beak-diving down towards her.

Zoey braced herself, and then grabbed onto Art's flipper and foot and spinning her round and round. Just going faster and faster. Rico's eyes flew around and around to keep up, but to everyone, Art and Zoey were just two black and white blurs.

Without warning, Zoey threw the lead female penguin up. And she went up and up, before turning down and plummeting towards the habitat. Hope and Zoe back flipped into place and stood rigidly. Art did a flip before landing right onto the shoulders of her team. As they held their leader in place, the three smiled and waved at the crowd as the humans erupted in a loud roar of praise. And fish. Lots of fish.

"Excellent work, girls," Art beamed as they let her back down to the ground. "Zoey, you're getting way better at your spins in the water, but your jumps are a bit off balance. Hope, kudos on your flexibility. It's really coming along. Just try a little harder at not flinching when I come down, though."

As the girls talked amongst themselves, the boys were both surprised and, if nothing else, a little envious. Private was smiling and clapping as he was very impressed, but immediately stopped at the glares from his comrades.

"Okay…so that was actually…really good," Kowalski coughed out, hoping that it wasn't loud enough for the girls to hear.

"Kowalski, what just happened?" Skipper asked, his eyes narrowing in growing irritation and impatience.

"Well, it appears that our female guests are top-class performers. Seems like before coming here, that's what they were best at."

Skipper's eye twitched, "So…that means…"

With a dejected sigh, Kowalski admitted, "I'm afraid so. We've been bested in the battle for attention of the crowd. And the fish."

"Fish…?" Rico's bottom beak quivered a bit, his eyes growing wide with sadness as he fell flat on his belly. It was almost as if he were about to cry, until-

_SPLAT!_

"Ehh?" Rico pushed himself up a bit as a few fish landed right in front of him. The three females looked to him expectantly. Slowly, even hesitantly, Rico gobbled up the fish and swallowed them with a satisfied slurp.

"Well, what're you waiting for?" Hope asked them with a grin, as if they were expecting an invitation.

Skipper scowled and crossed his flippers, directing his glare at Art, "What's your game, female?"

Art scoffed, rolling her eyes as she sat down, "What? Did you see the look on his face? I'll admit to being a bit crude, but I'm not heartless. Besides, what's the point of winning something if you can't share the spoils? Everybody dig in!"

Aside from Skipper, all the hostility and envy vanished from the male penguins and they all dove into the giant pile of fish. As they feasted and gorged themselves, the commando penguin kept thinking the same thing over and over.

_What's she up to?_

* * *

_11:45 P.M._

Normally all the animals would be sound asleep after an exhausting and busy day with the people. Unfortunately, this was no ordinary zoo…

"Yes! Dance, my royal subjects! Dance!" Julien crooned, swaying his hips violently to the beat of his boom box. Maurice and Mort were dancing along, actually having a good time with it too.

Suddenly, the music was stopped. And so did they're dancing.

"Hey! Who is daring to stop de king and his all-night boogying?!" Julien angrily shouted, his tail waving around in irritation.

"Hey, boys."

The lemurs turned to the boom box, and spotted Art on top of it with her foot on the power button. She jumped down in front of them, ignoring the glare she was getting from Julien.

"Oh, are you here to once again try to stop the greatness that is my all-night booty shaking?" the lemur king asked, shaking his tail in front of Art. She winced a bit as his bushy tail kept hitting her in the face.

Smacking the tail away, she then said, "Name's Art, first of all. Second, not at all. In fact, I was coming over to see if I could join you."

The lemurs blinked, then looked at each other in morbid shock. None of the penguins had ever wanted to actually _join_ them in late night parties. Not ever.

"So," Art smirked, slapping a flipper on the power button, thus returning the music. She then turned the volume up before calling out, "Wanna continue the party?"

Julien actually grinned before jumping back into his dancing groove, "Yes! Finally, let's get this party re-started!"

Maurice and Mort merely shrugged before dancing as well.

"Hey, cutie. Wanna dance?"

"Oh, ho ho! Aren't you a flirtacious-ness penguin," Julien laughed, before turning around. "I have to warn you though that-WHAT IS THIS?"

Art, not even paying any mind to Julien's outburst, was flipper-in-paw with Mort as they danced. Julien's eye twitched violently, but before another outburst could be made, the music was stopped once more.

The four of them turned and saw Skipper leaning on the boom box, his eyes narrowed and his flippers crossed. His gaze was, especially, being stern with Art.

"It's late. Music off."

Art scowled lightly and boldly strode forward, "It's not a crime to have fun. Music on."

She hit the power button, bringing the music back to life. It was immediately dead again thanks to Skipper's flipper.

"Music off."

The female's eyes narrowed, "Music on."

"Music off."

"Music on."

"Off!"

"On!"

"OFF!"

"ON!"

The lemurs' eyes darted side to side, as if watching an intense ping pong match. They had a feeling that if they kept abusing the power button, they wouldn't have a boom box to 'boom'.

Growling loudly, Art suddenly grabbed his flipper and threw him over her shoulder. He cried out in surprise as he went off the bouncy house and out of the habitat. She dusted her flippers and commented.

"Don't worry. If he ever tries to stop you guys from doing your thing, let me know."

Skipper grunted as he landed on the railing of the penguin habitat. He quickly shook it off and leapt onto the island. He needed backup to break up the new partygoer with the lemurs.

"On your feet, team!" Skipper barked as he climbed down the ladder. However, none of them made a sound nor a movement.

He climbed down further, looking into each bunk. As he moved from each one, his non-existent eyebrows arched higher. All of them were wearing earmuffs, which wasn't necessarily unusual, but he never recalled any of them putting them on before lights out.

Curiosity eating at his gut, Skipper looked to the other side, where Rico had graciously blew out three bunks for the girls to sleep in. They too had earmuffs over their earholes.

"So, that's your game, Miss Art?" Skipper crossed his flippers, rage now boiling with a thirst for vengeance.

He finally figured it out. His boys never put the earmuffs on at all! Art had done it to them and her girls. To everyone in the base except for him! She was doing all of this to him on purpose!

"Very well," he muttered, a deep frown forming on his beak. "She wants a battle? I'm gonna give her a _**war**_."


End file.
